Engineers have developed a flexible and efficient series of fillers which offer new possibilities of gravimetric filling. Filling companies can now maximise their potential thanks to this flexibility.

The Feige RobotFiller is suitable for the filling of 10 to 1000kg cans, pails, drums and IBC which are moved one by one on a roller conveyor or as a batch on a pallet.

This flexible range of application to fill liquid and pasty products is achieved through the 6-axes articulated robot. The integrated real-time camera system automatically locates the filling openings and leads the robot to the working positions. This makes the RobotFiller the most flexible filler which is currently available on the market.

The RobotFiller is available in four versions:

• Gantry-type version: The RobotFiller will be working on a gantry above the conveyor system.
• Add-on version: The RobotFiller will be installed next to the conveyor system.
• Stand-alone version: The RobotFiller will be operated without conveyor system at one filling position. A floor conveyor has to feed and remove the containers.
• High-efficiency version: Through the use of two articulated robots in one common control the working processes (opening, filling, closing, sealing) can be divided and performed in parallel. In this way, the RobotFiller is as flexible as a conventional pallet filling robot and reaches the output of a single container filling machine.

The nominal output of a RobotFiller can be up to 60drums/h (200l).

Apart from the versatile applications where the RobotFiller can be used, the filler also takes into account crucial aspects on working safety by offering a most convenient handling for the operator.

If for example different products will be led through single pipes to the filling machines and end up in single filling valves, an automatic change of the filling valves can easily be done by the filling robot.

Moreover, this technology also permits the installation of a filling cabin and an exhaust system. Thus, the operator will never be in contact with the products and their possibly explosive or toxic gas.

Below-surface filling

The RobotFiller is of course also used for below-surface filling. The filling lance descends until almost reaching the bottom of the container.

Afterwards, the lance raises, still being immersed in the product, following the ascending product level. This filling mode has best proven to prevent product foaming or the production of explosive gas during filling. The lance upward motion is controlled through the increase of product weight or via integrated dynamic pressure tube in the filling lance.

And – what is more – this upward motion is carried out very smoothly thanks to the servo driven axes of the articulated robot.

Harald Niemann is with Feige GmbH, Abfülltechnik, Bad Oldesloe, Germany. www.feige.com